Rudder Steering only?

[Lord Nelson]

I am thinking of building my first paddler, a "Director" from Kingston Mouldings (39" long). Would rudder steering alone be good enough, or is tank steering an absolute necessity?

Thanks, Terry.

[Gerhardvienna]

Hi Terry
I would prefere Tank steering, but it depends on the length of the rudder. If you want to turn "on the spot", tank steering is a must!
Regards
Gerhard

[Mercury]

Rudder steering will work fine however the Directors did have independent paddles so you may wish to go down this route. It'll certainly be more fun in the pond. Some rc units can be set up with a switch to enable both motors to be controlled from one stick or separately - this gives the best of both options and would be more prototypical as the engines could generally be linked together. This would have been used at sea or when carrying passengers - as the Directors sometimes did - on Navy Days for example.

[the bombus]

Hello Lord ,
If you look at the building log of Doonie's Bellarine you should find some great solutions to a lot of your questions.
He's also using a verry nice esc that drives two motors separetly ( so you do'nt have to buy two esc's
hope this helps you along,it sure did helped me .
i'm working on a dutch paddler called Wodan (scale 1/19 that's 2.10meter )
and i can't do anything with it if i would not have tanksteering.
keep us informed of your progress
greetings from The Bombus

[Brian Gates]

The reason the Directors were built as paddle rather than screw tugs was so that they could work alongside an aircraft carrier and turn it virtually on the spot, it seems a pity to lose this feature, especially as they are about the only prototype for which independent electric drive is prototypically correct.

Brian

[andy]

Hi,

I built such an director tug in my youth, and this runs fine only with rudder steering.The wheels are running together, the telescope axle of the wheels only is for unfitting them.

http://picasaweb.google.com/a.heene/Leviathan

And my other paddler, the DIESSEN works as well with rudder steering, hull is 2m long. It´s only a question of the size of the lake, which is used for sailing.

Andreas

[bill stafford]

as you have being told , rudder steering only is fine , but , tank steering , ie independent control , is better for tight turns +on wind age , it can get you out of trouble .
 on a short hull like yours , the rough rule of thumb is turn through 180 degrees , approx. 3/4 hull lengths , which isn't that long .
I have a graupner Glasgow paddle tug , slightly longer than yours ,and i will be running independent motor control , but I'm a control freak , for tug comps .
 the choice is yours .
 regards bill s